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Project Izumo
Project Izumo, also called the Izumo Plan, was an early attempt by the leadership of Earth to save human survivors from the devastation of the Garmillas-Earth War. After years of lost confrontations with the Great Garmillas Empire and an ongoing bombardment that had nearly wiped out all life on Earth, humanity was facing its own extinction. Project Izumo proposed transporting a small portion of the remaining population out of the solar system and away from Garmillas attention, settling a habitable world, and re-starting human civilization. General Kotetsu Serizawa of the United Nations Cosmo Force was placed in command of the project[http://yamato2199.net/character_serizawa.html Official Space Battleship Yamato 2199 website character data for Kotetsu Serizawa] and preparations moved ahead. The work was interrupted in 2198 when a message from an alien planet, Iscandar, offered a device that could restore Earth's ruined biosphere and an advanced engine to power the ship that would transport the device. The Izumo Plan was officially scrapped, and personnel and resources were diverted to the more ambitious and riskier plan of launching the space battleship Yamato one year later on a round-trip voyage to Iscandar ("Messenger of Iscandar", "Toward a Sea of Stars"). Despite the successful departure of Yamato from Earth, the fight for Project Izumo was not over. Serizawa falsified records, created a security force for the ship headed by Lieutenant Shinya Itou and staffed by other loyal officers, and concealed a Ki-8 prototype air boat aboard the ship for planetary reconnaissance[http://ourstarblazers.com/vault/956/ Embers of the Izumo Plan, Ki 8-Type Prototype Airboat, reported in "The Yamato 2199 Secret Files"] (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark). Just before Yamato moved out of communications range with Earth, Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi secretly made contact with Serizawa, who encouraged her to move ahead with the plot to restart Izumo ("Farewell to the Solar System"). Niimi first attempted to sway Admiral Juzo Okita by asking to investigate a suitable planet orbiting Gliese 581, but her request was immediately and unequivocally turned down ("Wish Upon a Star"). She collaborated with Security Chief Itou to find additional supporters among the crew and waited for an opportunity to act. That moment came following the discovery of Beemela 4, a world covered with liquid water and rich plant and animal life. With Yamato's food processing system failing, the ship heavily damaged in a nearly fatal encounter with Garmillas forces, and Okita in poor health, Niimi and Itou initiated a mutiny. After they and their collaborators secured the ship, the mutineers' plan to return to Earth, pick up as many survivors as possible, and begin colonization of Beemela 4 was announced. The mutiny was stopped hours later, in part due to a young security officer and six other security personnel with their own secret orders from United Nations Space Planning Office chief Heikuro Todo to watch for any activity related to Izumo ("Point of No Return", "A Choice for the Future")ibid. With the collapse of the mutiny, Project Izumo ended once and for all ("A Choice for the Future"). Notes *Izumo is currently the name of a city in southwestern Honshu, the largest island of the Japanese archipelago. In the past, it was the name of the surrounding province. In the Shinto religion, Izumo is the realm of the gods; the Izumo-taisha shrine in Izumo City was built in honor of the god Ōkuninushi, who granted the land of Japan to descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu. Their subsequent descendants eventually became the Japanese people. References Japanese language information イズモ計画 Izumo keikaku Category:Plans and Projects